For the first time since 2009, PolitiFact is recalibrating the Lie of the Year — our award for the most egregious falsehood we've seen in a year's worth of fact-checking. This year, we want to focus less on the offenders who perpetuate the falsehoods, and more on those who are hurt by them. So “congratulations” 2025. PolitiFact names you Year of the Lies. 🧵 buff.ly/0xMtlSp

The Justice Department plans to send election monitors to jurisdictions nationwide on Nov. 3. This is a routine practice spanning decades across both Democratic and Republican administrations. Monitors observe and take notes to ensure compliance with voting laws (like access for voters with disabilities and preventing discrimination). They are bound by state laws and cannot enter areas where voters fill out or submit ballots. With ~100,000 polling places nationwide, the planned 1,000 monitors mean most sites won’t have one. Get the full breakdown and follow our live coverage tracking election misinformation: buff.ly/GkwANOk

A Russian disinformation group targeted Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico with an AI-generated video making a baseless claim. buff.ly/rvEgyb9

Actress Christina Applegate was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Some research suggests about 15% of people diagnosed with MS could be similarly misdiagnosed. We looked into how that happens. politifact.com/article/2026/…

President Donald Trump has promised “goodies” if midterms voters elect a GOP majority in Congress. This could include a Space Academy, a manufacturing investment, a break on ethanol and $5,000 payments. politifact.com/article/2026/…

A WinSenate ad said Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson is “$8 million richer” after five years in Congress. The calculation is skewed by comparing the widest possible range between estimated assets. Experts say it’s misleading. politifact.com/factchecks/20…

At a Fort Myers rally with President Trump, GOP gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody painted their Democratic opponents as extreme. We fact-checked their statements. politifact.com/article/2026/…

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein claimed that election officials are rejecting more mail-in ballots over technicalities — a trend he called “infuriating” while sharing a specific statistic that wasn’t supported by state data. politifact.com/factchecks/20…

Election Day is around the corner. PolitiFact is fact-checking competitive 2026 midterm races across the country. Follow this live blog for our latest fact-checks and updates. buff.ly/GkwANOk

Former President Barack Obama defended the 2015 Iran deal and criticized Donald Trump’s path to conflict while campaigning for Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown in Ohio. buff.ly/9klvjtX

Vote “flipping” or “swapping” claims are a recurring theme since the 2020 election, but there is no evidence that problems are happening on a wide scale or deliberately. Election officials say it’s often user error. buff.ly/nbquUxJ

President Donald Trump has promised “goodies” if midterms voters elect a GOP majority in Congress. This could include a Space Academy, a manufacturing investment, a break on ethanol and $5,000 payments. buff.ly/JJF1XZd

Actress Christina Applegate was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Some research suggests about 15% of people diagnosed with MS could be similarly misdiagnosed. We looked into how that happens. buff.ly/pa4Gldp

Former President Barack Obama toured the midwest to stump for candidates in Ohio and Michigan tonight. Our live fact-checking: buff.ly/GkwANOk

In Detroit, El-Sayed said President Donald Trump's tariffs are “costing auto workers their livelihoods.” Trump’s second term has been characterized by the most stringent tariffs in decades and a trade war with Canada, whose auto industry is heavily interconnected with that of the United States. Confirming causation is tricky, but employment in the motor vehicle and parts sector has declined since the start of Trump’s second term: buff.ly/GkwANOk

Vote “flipping” or “swapping” claims are a recurring theme since the 2020 election, but there is no evidence that problems are happening on a wide scale or deliberately. Election officials say it’s often user error. buff.ly/nbquUxJ

In some of his highest-profile remarks about President Donald Trump’s decision to launch the Iran war, former President Barack Obama lamented Trump’s choice to exit the 2015 deal Obama negotiated with Iran. buff.ly/9klvjtX

Rallying in Cleveland for Democratic candidates, Barack Obama said Jon Husted "voted to kick hundreds of thousands of Ohioans off Medicaid." This is largely accurate. PolitiFact previously fact-checked an ad by Brown that said Husted voted “to kick 490,000 Ohioans off their healthcare,” rating it Half True. Obama’s version was less specific and therefore more accurate. The health care think tank KFF has estimated that 350,000 to 580,000 Ohioans could lose coverage. A more recent study by RAND found results broadly in line with KFF. buff.ly/LwkU5Db

Sherrod Brown: “Jon Husted voted 14 times, 14 times for the war in Iran,” Brown said. “Fourteen times.” A Brown ad said the same, that Husted “voted 14 times for the war in Iran pushing gas, diesel prices to record highs.” This needs context. Only one of Husted’s votes was on a resolution to end the war itself; the other 13 times he cast votes on procedural motions, keeping resolutions from coming to the floor. buff.ly/GkwANOk

At a Cleveland rally, Acton said her opponent Ramaswamy, “moved his business to Texas before running for governor of the state of Ohio. Probably not a good idea.” It’s accurate that Ramaswamy moved the company he co-founded— Strive Asset Management — from Columbus, Ohio, to Dallas. buff.ly/GkwANOk

Before a speech by former President Barack Obama, Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton criticized her opponent, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, for running an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother, a decision that has also been criticized by some of Ramaswamy’s fellow Republicans. Our live fact-checking buff.ly/GkwANOk